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Planet Money

By: NPR
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  • Summary

  • Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

    Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
    Copyright 2015-2021 NPR - For Personal Use Only
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Episodes
  • The hack that almost broke the internet

    The hack that almost broke the internet
    May 17 2024
    Last month, the world narrowly avoided a cyberattack of stunning ambition. The targets were some of the most important computers on the planet. Computers that power the internet. Computers used by banks and airlines and even the military.

    What these computers had in common was that they all relied on open source software.

    A strange fact about modern life is that most of the computers responsible for it are running open source software. That is, software mostly written by unpaid, sometimes even anonymous volunteers. Some crucial open source programs are managed by just a single overworked programmer. And as the world learned last month, these programs can become attractive targets for hackers.

    In this case, the hackers had infiltrated a popular open source program called XZ. Slowly, over the course of two years, they transformed XZ into a secret backdoor. And if they hadn't been caught, they could have taken control of large swaths of the internet.

    On today's show, we get the story behind the XZ hack and what made it possible. How the hackers took advantage of the strange way we make modern software. And what that tells us about the economics of one of the most important industries in the world.

    Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+     in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    25 mins
  • Why Gold? (Classic)

    Why Gold? (Classic)
    May 15 2024
    In the past few months, the price of gold has gone way up – even hitting a new high last month at just over $2,400 per troy ounce.

    Gold has long had a shiny quality to it, literally and in the marketplace. And we wondered, why is that?

    Today on the show, we revisit a Planet Money classic episode: Why Gold? Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum will peruse the periodic table of the elements with one goal in mind: to learn which element would really make the best money.

    This classic Planet Money episode was part of the Planet Money Buys Gold series, and was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum.

    This rerun was hosted by Sally Helm, produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Keith Romer, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in     Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

    Always free at these links:     Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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    19 mins
  • Zombie mortgages are coming back to life

    Zombie mortgages are coming back to life
    May 10 2024
    Karen McDonough of Quincy, Mass., was enjoying her tea one morning in the dining room when she saw something odd outside her window: a group of people gathering on her lawn. A man with a clipboard told her that her home no longer belonged to her. It didn't matter that she'd been paying her mortgage for 17 years and was current on it. She was a nurse with a good job and had raised her kids there. But this was a foreclosure sale, and she was going to lose her house.

    McDonough had fallen victim to what's called a zombie second mortgage. Homeowners think these loans are long dead. But then the loans come back to life because they get bought up, sometimes for pennies on the dollar, by debt collectors that then move to collect and foreclose on people's homes.

    On today's episode: An NPR investigation reveals the practice to be widespread. Also, what are zombie mortgages? Is all this legal? And is there any way for homeowners to fight the zombies?

    You can read more about zombie second mortgages online at: npr.org/zombie

    This episode was hosted by Chris Arnold and Robert Smith. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang with help from Bob Little. And it was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez with an assist from Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Help support     Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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    31 mins
Economics Politics & Government
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Featured Article: The Best Investing Podcasts to Help You Build Your Portfolio


For beginner investors, we’ve compiled a list of podcasts that are perfect for getting your feet in the door. For those of you who are already familiar with investing and are looking for more specific information from experts to take your investments to the next level, there are great podcasts available for you too. This list includes the best investing podcasts—for beginners, for choosing stocks and funds, for expert investors, and for keeping up with the news.

Featured Article The Best Investing Podcasts to Help You Build Your Portfolio

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Profile Image for Sara

Very Interesting

Its very interesting they talk about tax loopholes in a way that makes you want to listen to it.

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Best!

This is one of my all time favorite podcasts! keep up the great work 😃

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Profile Image for Jonathan

Incredibly informative analysis on... everything!

Amazing podcast, the energy of the hosts is unmatched (is it just me or does Mary sound exactly like Cortana?)
Everyone should be tuning into every episode.

The tax loophole is still my favorite episode... so far!!

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planet skibidi toilet slay


planet money is so slay and it made me do the griddy. it gave me skibidi rizz 🤔😨😪😧

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Nice

This show is a classic, everybody performs so great and such good stories, I highly suggest.
Thank you for reading 

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too much advertising

Way too much advertising which makes it real annoying to listen. otherwise the content is good.

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